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The father-son owners of two Illinois-based tutoring companies, which did business with Dallas ISD in recent years, have been accused of bribing school officials in other districts, including San Antonio.

According to a federal indictment unsealed Monday, owners Johwar Soultanali and his son, Kabir Kassam, bribed school district officials with money, meals, Caribbean vacations and “services” at strip clubs. In return, school district officials in San Antonio, Corpus Christi and other states encouraged students to sign up with Babbage Net School and Brilliance Academy.

The indictment claims that the father and son bilked school districts out of $33 million.

Babbage Net School provided tutoring to Dallas ISD students who qualified for it under No Child Left Behind. According to state records, Babbage made $12.6 million in Texas in the 2009-10 school year. In Dallas, the company charged $70 an hour to tutor students and received at least $115,000 in recent years.

Dallas ISD is not mentioned in the indictment.

Court records state that Cedric Peterson, an assistant principal in San Antonio ISD, received Caribbean cruises from the owners. Another San Antonio employee, Brian Harris, received money. A Corpus Christi ISD employee is also included in the indictment. The three Texas school officials worked in their districts’ supplemental education services departments.

A 2010 study commissioned by the Texas Education Agency found that students who received tutoring with such companies did no better than students who didn’t get tutoring. However, the report found that Babbage was the only provider that showed higher reading scores for students.

Under No Child Left Behind, students from low-income families who attend a school that hasn’t met adequate yearly progress for at least one year can sign up with an SES tutor. Federal funds pay for the program.

The law prohibits school district employees from trying to encourage students to sign up with a particular SES provider.

In Dallas ISD, students could choose from dozens of tutoring companies. If Texas approved the vendor, DISD was required to allow the company to work in the district. For years, Dallas ISD called the tutoring a “racket” and tried to get an exemption from having to provide the service to students.

Texas received a waiver under NCLB last year, and education commissioner Michael Williams then decided not to require SES this school year.